


A Haven in Destruction

by pie_is_good



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-13
Updated: 2011-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-22 14:06:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/238846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pie_is_good/pseuds/pie_is_good
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world is nearly obliterated by nuclear warfare, even the magical community isn't prepared. That is, except for the mysterious charms around Hogwarts, and one Lily Potter...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Haven in Destruction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KanedaX](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KanedaX/gifts).



Lily Potter would never cease to be frustrated that Muggle electronic devices did not work in heavily magical areas. If they’d still lived in their flat in London, she would be able to turn on the telly and watch the news, but she had to rely on the much slower newspapers for her information.

She’d been aware, as a child, of the ongoing stalemate between the Soviets and the Americans, but it hadn’t really mattered to her. At ten, the idea of the entire world, destroyed, because a few men decided to push some buttons, was simply incomprehensible.

Of course, another decade of life didn’t make that much more comprehensible, but the news lately had begun to worry her. She wasn’t sure if it was paranoia from the months she’d spent in hiding, or if she simply wanted her fears to be directed at something other than Lord Voldemort.

“James?” Lily asked over breakfast one morning, carefully flattening a letter out on the table. “Do wizards have any defense from Muggle weapons?”

“Bullets and guns?” James asked, more interested in concentrating on making sure a majority of Harry’s breakfast ended up in his mouth and not the floor. “You know that, Lily. Shield charms work as physical barriers.”

“No, James, not bullets,” Lily sighed. “Nuclear bombs.”

“Bombs, like the ones Muggles use to blow up cars or buildings?”

“Well, yes,” Lily admitted. Sometimes her husband’s knowledge of the Muggle world infuriated her, even after years of her telling him off for being so arrogantly ignorant. “But these are much, much worse. They can destroy cities, even a small country.”

“I can’t imagine that they’re much of a match for magic.”

“That’s just the thing though,” Lily said, staring back down at the letter. “According to Dumbledore, the magical world – not even the Ministry – is prepared for these kind of attacks. He’s confirmed something that I feared: no one believes Muggles to be a threat. Beyond some incredibly powerful objects, the only thing in magical Britain potentially strong enough to withstand a nuclear blast is Hogwarts.”

“What about us?”

“I think I can manage,” Lily said, pulling a book off the shelf behind her, “but it’s going to take some work.”

***

Miles away, in a location unknown to anyone but the Dark Lord himself, Severus Snape appeared out of thin air.

“My Lord,” Snape said, obediently bowing and not daring to lift his head until the Dark Lord greeted him.

“Severus, have you any news of the Potters?”

Severus straightened back out, but it was the question he had expected the most and the one that he least wanted to hear.

“I’ve been informed by Dumbledore himself that the Potters have gone into hiding under the Fidelius Charm.”

The Dark Lord’s eyes became even thinner slits, carefully considering the news that Snape had brought him. Severus knew he would not act on any impulse to torture or worse no matter what news he brought; his talent for potions and ties to Dumbledore, was far, far too valuable to risk.

That didn’t make standing in front of the Dark Lord with bad news any easier.

“Do you have any idea who the Secret Keeper is?”

“The most likely person would be Potter’s best friend, Sirius Black,” Severus said, not daring let out a breath of relief that the Dark Lord merely continued to question him.

“Ah yes,” the Dark Lord said, leaning back in his chair. “The other Black brother, the one who never even pretended to follow me. I think I shall enjoy this. Severus?”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“Bring him to me.”

Without another word, Severus Apparated away to just outside the flat he believed Sirius Black called home. He might even find this _fun_ …

***

“I escaped just in time,” Sirius said as Lily let him in the door of their Godric’s Hollow home. “Bastard caught me while I was sleeping, three Death Eaters in tow.”

James shut the door behind him. “But you’re okay? You didn’t say anything?”

“Of course not,” Sirius laughed. “It’s me. I would rather die than betray you, or Peter. No, I think only good came from tonight.”

“But Sirius,” Lily said, “you can never go back to your home.”

“Yes,” Sirius grinned. “But we know that they believe me to be the Secret Keeper.”

“I guess that is good –”

Lily did not have a chance to finish her sentence. All three fell to the ground, hard, and somewhere upstairs, a baby began to cry.

Beyond the front garden fence, the world crumbled. Lily completed the wards only hours before, with no time to even attempt to share her results.

While the Potters and Sirius lived, the flesh disintegrated from the bodies of Voldemort and his Death Eaters in a split-second.

But a cup, a locket, a diary, a ring, and a diadem remained untouched.

***

Six years later, Lily still hadn’t proclaimed outside safe. Her research before finishing the wards had mostly been about protecting them from the initial blast, and with the world outside now destroyed, learning anything new proved rather difficult. She knew the wards were holding, and she’d keyed them to last for ten years. She didn’t dare attempt to alter them or move beyond them. The wards were still experimental, and anything could make them fall.

None of them had left Godric’s Hollow in six years; Harry and his sister had never seen beyond the wards. They hoped someone else was still alive, but what they could see showed only devastation. They did not even know where to begin looking – Hogwarts, maybe – but with Apparition impossible from either location, travel there would be difficult.

And no one outside of their home knew the location of the Potter house.

As far as they knew, no one else had survived. Just Lily, Harry, Sirius, James, and the new addition to their family, Amelia. It had been hard on everyone; her and James had never had fights before like they had had in the last six years. The children were both older and younger than they were, and Sirius was still, well, Sirius. He certainly hadn’t been someone Lily had expected to keep everyone sane, but he really had kept everything as normal as he could possibly have done in a world that hardly had meaning any longer.

But to a seven-year-old, a birthday is still a birthday, and Harry followed Lily around the garden as she set up the picnic for that afternoon.

“Mum, do you think I’ll get to see Hogwarts?” Lily looked down at him sadly. Harry knew that he and his sister, Amelia, would never be able to experience Hogwarts the way his parents and Uncle Sirius had.

“Perhaps someday,” Lily said, brushing the hair from her son’s forehead. “You know we’re considering leaving soon, sweetie.”

“You’re always thinking about leaving!”

“I know, sweetie,” Lily laughed. “But we can’t stay here forever.”

Before Harry even had a chance to respond, a woman that Lily would recognize anywhere landed just outside the wards.

“Lily, James!” Professor McGonagall called into the illusion of emptiness. “If you’re there, please let me in. Lily! James!”

“Sirius!” Lily yelled towards the house. “It’s Professor McGonagall! Go outside and tell her how to find us, quickly!”

When no one responded, she turned towards Harry.

“Harry, go and find Uncle Sirius, and bring him here. It’s very important.”

Lily watched as Harry ran towards the house, satisfied he would bring Sirius. Turning away from the house, she began to remove her wards, just in case it impeded McGonagall’s ability to step inside once Sirius told her the Secret.

Lily smiled as she deconstructed the wards. McGonagall would not risk the world being unsafe, not if she had survived this long. With her outside, the world might finally be safe.

***

“I am so glad we finally found you,” Professor McGonagall said. “We thought you had all died, but Albus insisted that since a new name had appeared on the Hogwarts register – Amelia Potter – that you all were still alive.”

“How did you find us?” James asked, showing McGonagall to a chair in the kitchen.

“We searched for a long time for any survivors,” McGonagall began. “But we didn’t have much hope. Every Muggle in the country had been obliterated, and most of the magical world didn’t fare much better.”

“So there really is no one left?” Lily turned from the stove, pouring tea into four cups. Some things she still preferred to do as close to the Muggle way as possible.

“As far as we know, just Hogwarts,” McGonagall said, “and here. If Mr. Black hadn’t been flying around on his broom last night, I don’t know if we would have ever found each other.”

“Let’s just be glad you found us,” James said quickly, sensing Lily tensing up and knowing that now was not the time for her to yell at Sirius.

“And just in time, too,” McGonagall’s voice spoke with much more urgency in her voice. “Voldemort lives.”

“Of course he does.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Of all the people that could have lived through this, of COURSE that bastard is still around.”

“Sirius, language!” Lily and McGonagall said in unison.

“Oh, come on, Lily,” Sirius said. “The kids aren’t even here.”

Tilting her to the side to look at the shut kitchen door, Lily flicked her wand delicately, and the door flung open, revealing Harry and his five-year-old sister.

“Alright, point taken.” Sirius sat down in the chair, grabbing an apple off the center of the table from one of the trees in the garden.

“As I was saying before I was interrupted.” If the look on Professor McGonagall’s face was any indication, she hadn’t quite got over no longer being a teacher. “Voldemort lives, but only barely. He arrived on the grounds of Hogwarts a few months ago, merely an echo of his former self, but a Philosopher’s Stone lives within Hogwarts, as Nicholas Flamel had come for tea that day. Albus is keeping Voldemort’s essence contained, and the two of us have learned what keeps him tied to this world.”

“Why isn’t Dumbledore here with us?”

“He cannot leave,” McGonagall explained. “His magic is being constantly drained in an effort to contain Voldemort.”

“What do you need us for?”

“Not you,” McGonagall said, gesturing in the direction of the doorway. “We need Harry. Albus will explain when we arrive.”

“Me?” Harry asked incredulously. “What do you mean?”

Lily and James looked at each other, squeezing the other’s hand in a sign of acceptance. They both knew the prophecy, knew what it could mean, and they knew that their son had much to do with the outcome. If the world was to even try to exist again, it would never happen with a man like Lord Voldemort on the loose.

“It means, Harry,” Lily began, kneeling in front of her son. “We’re going to Hogwarts.”

***

“So you see why we need you, Harry,” Dumbledore said, winding down the long tale of Horcruxes and prophecies.

“So you want me,” Harry began nervously, wishing Professor Dumbledore had allowed at least his mum to remain for their conversation, “to kill someone? Because someone told you once that I had to or they wouldn’t die?”

“No, not quite.” Dumbledore offered a lemon drop to Harry, who shook his head nervously. Being in a new place had certainly drawn the boy into his shell. His eyes were wide in excitement every time he found something new to examine, but with so much space, new people, and new sights, it was hard for an seven year old who had never seen beyond his own front garden to take in.

“Then what?” Harry asked, walking over to the Pensieve, swirling his fingers in the silver liquid.

“We only want to make sure that Lord Voldemort does not return. His body is already dead. Did you understand Horcruxes when I explained them?” Harry only nodded. “Voldemort only lives because those dark objects tie him to this world. We want you to be the one to destroy them, to ensure that he remains where he should be. Can you do this, Harry?”

“Yes,” Harry’s voice was very small, a seven-year-old just comprehending what this man he had heard so much about had asked of him. “I’ll do it.”

***

In Gryffindor Tower, Lily and James lounged on the chairs they had spent so many hours on as teenagers while Amelia explored the tower in awe, unaware how eerily quiet and empty the rooms were.

Sirius, on the other hand, fumed.

“I don’t understand why Dumbledore needs Harry,” he yelled, kicking over a small end table.

“Wow, six years of apocalyptic future really hasn’t calmed your temper, has it?” James mused.

“He’s seven years old. Everyone is dead. What could possibly be the point to putting Harry through that just because Dumbledore thinks that we need to kill an already dead bad guy! And you!” Sirius yelled directly at James. “Why don’t you care? Why don’t you tell Dumbledore no?”

“We came to terms with it a long time ago,” Lily broke in. “Before the world was destroyed. If Voldemort really is trying to return, don’t you think we should try to stop it if we have any hope of rebuilding?”

“I don’t care,” Sirius yelled as he stormed out the portrait hole. “That old man is not going to use my godson.”

“I am going to kill him,” Lily said, standing up to go after him before James held her back.

“Look, Lils.” James stroked her hair, convincing her to sit back down next to him. “I’ll go talk to him. He hasn’t snapped once in six years. The rest of us have. I think he just needs to talk to someone. Why don’t you go and find Amelia? You can show her your old dorm…”

“Oh, all right,” Lily agreed.

Mostly because she didn’t _really_ want to impale Sirius on a sword from one of the coats of armor.

***

“Hey,” James said simply, pushing aside a branch to reveal a black dog curled up. James reached to pet the dog’s head just as Sirius turned back into his self.

“Stop trying to pet me.” Sirius caught James’s hand just before it reached his forehead. “It’s creepy when you do it.”

“Oh, but it’s not creepy when my son climbs on top of you?” James chuckled.

“That’s different!” Sirius stood up, brushing off a large rock to sit on. “I’m a loveable dog, and he’s seven years old.”

“So you didn’t go to Dumbledore?” James asked stupidly – of course he hadn’t. He was here.

“Nah,” Sirius plopped down on the rock, leaning back against the tree behind it. “Figured Lily’s right. She usually is.”

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. James did not look at Sirius but marveled at the trees and the flowers and the creatures and the sky. The Hogwarts grounds still had so much life.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Sirius said, noticing the look on James’s face. “It’s all okay here. It doesn’t look any different. It’s still just Hogwarts.”

“Yeah.” James didn’t know what else to say. He’d felt the same way, but he’d had six years to deal with it. He cried on Lily’s shoulder; he screamed into the wind, not caring that his whole family could hear his sorrow. He snapped at Harry and Amelia even when they’d done nothing wrong, but Sirius had just laughed and joked. Same old guy.

“I just can’t believe we’re back here,” Sirius sighed, drawing patterns in the dirt with a twig, “and Wormtail and Moony aren’t.”

“It’s been six years.” James reminded him. Sirius stood, quietly and slowly. His height had never been quite so apparent. Not tall, exactly, but James was much shorter.

“You three were my family.” Sirius remained oddly calm. “I didn’t have anyone else. I left my mum and my dad and my brother, and to this day, I don’t miss them. The day the world exploded, I didn’t lose just everyone. I lost half my family.”

“You have us.”

“No, you have each other,” Sirius turned away. “You four are a family. I’m just the lucky bastard who didn’t incinerate with the rest that you’re now stuck with.”

“I can’t believe you think that!” James jumped; the volume of his own voice surprised even him. “I mean, you’re our family. The kids adore you. We adore you.”

“It’s just…I never quite came to terms with it, you know? Those times I left, flying around…those were just to not think, not to deal. But now, being here…” Sirius didn’t need to say more. It wasn’t just that he only joked, never talking about Remus or Peter or anyone else. He never even thought about them. He’d put it all out of his mind, ignoring it. For six years.

Without a word to each other, both men turned to animals, setting off to roam the forest they knew so well.

***

Dumbledore entered Gryffindor Tower just minutes after Sirius and James had returned, an unnaturally subdued Harry in tow. His sister ran to him immediately, and the two headed off towards the carpet in front of the fire.

“It is done,” Dumbledore said simply.

“Done?” James asked. “You had all the Horcruxes?”

“Of course,” Dumbledore twirled a bit of his beard with one frail finger. “It was quite easy to locate them with nearly no magic left in Britain. Why, Voldemort’s Horcruxes were nearly the only magical items left, outside of Hogwarts and Godric’s Hollow.”

“Is Harry okay?” Lily asked. Harry and Amelia didn’t seem quite as animated to her as they normally were, and something in Harry’s eyes was…different, older.

“He will be. Destroying Horcruxes is not…a pleasant experience. I will leave the rest to Harry to talk about as he wishes.” Dumbledore paused for a moment, but no one else seemed to have quite coherent thoughts to voice. “You are welcome to stay in the castle as long as you wish. Even though there are quite a few teachers still in the castle, it is still quite lonely here, and I daresay Silvanus and Pomona’s children would love to meet Harry and Amelia.”

“There’s other kids here?” Harry asked, leaping to his feet. For now, any sense that anything bad had happened to him left. “Is there another boy? I’d love to play with another boy! Are there broomsticks here?”

“Yes, yes, my boy, but I think for now, everyone could do with a nice dinner.”

***

A half-hour later, the five of them left Gryffindor Tower and headed for the Great Hall. As the doors opened, a world with people – real, live people – met them. It wasn’t filled with students joking with one another and swapping notes for lessons they had fallen asleep in, but there were people.

Nearly all the professors in Hogwarts had survived, and Lily was shocked to see that the children Dumbledore had mentioned were not the only ones in the castle, though there were clearly two closest to Harry and Amelia’s age. She squeezed Amelia’s hand, leading her towards the table.

“Do you want to sit with Mum?” Lily asked. “Or would you and Harry like to sit with the other children?”

Harry and Amelia looked nervously at the children, but after Lily nudged them towards the other children encouragingly, they started to walk over.

“Hi, I’m Harry,” Harry said simply, and Lily turned to let her children have something they had never had before. Friends.

James, Sirius, and Lily stood, not quite sure where they should sit. It was clear that everyone had a spot. After six years with no new adult faces, everyone was set in their ways. As Dumbledore moved to speak, they quickly grabbed three open spaces at the end of the table, next to Professor Flitwick.

“Today, a great thing has happened,” Dumbledore began. Lily reached under the table for James’s hand.

“Do you think we really can start new here?” James asked.

“I don’t want to abandon Godric’s Hollow forever,” Lily said, “but I think here, at Hogwarts, it still feels like the world is okay.”

“It really does.”

“I mean, you saw outside,” Lily whispered. “There’s green and hills …there’s life out there. We can do this. We can build new life here.”

Fingers entwined with James’s, she turned back to Dumbledore’s speech, with a smile on her face. She smiled because of one thing, just one thing, she thought they all had lost.

Hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta reader, butterfly_kate on LJ!


End file.
